When is a door a wall & a wall a door?

When you get the crazy idea you're a designer, decorator, architect, and builder all at the same time. "Flow" has been my guiding principle on this wacky trip. Our den definitely has a different feel to it now. With a new chair, and a departing Christmas tree, it should be interesting.

 1941 is the timeframe when this fabulous 2/1 was built. When I closed in the side porch, it made a great office. When we put our Christmas tree in front of the den window, access to said office was impeded. So moving the door to the other side of the fireplace sounded like a great idea to create a bookshelf/entertainment center and "refocus" the room.

 Craftsman bungalow takes on a new meaning when you try to remove old bookshelf. It was "crafted" into the original building. "Should we floor all the way to the wall Bob?" "Why do that Larry? Just going to build a bookshelf on top of it. Don't waste your time!"

 The fun spider web of electrical outlets and switches. I've learned a ton working on this classic home. *Notice the lack of insulation in any pictures?

 Trying to minimize the dust from tearing out plaster with hammer, prybar and reciprocating saw. Worked fairly well, to my amazement.

 Came out pretty smoothly. Of course, there was a Version 2 - needed to remove 9" more - which I didn't shoot.

 Thanks to Dennis Thomas' reno down the street, some decent hardwoods became available - with his permission, of course.

 Framing is new to me. Can you tell? Rerouting electrical is fairly simple, but making sure you've got the support exactly right for an old door that may - or may not - move easily from its old home to a new home is quite tricky.

 Did I mention the outside wall was brick? Yep, sturdy stuff that brick is. Framing was nothing compared to making the first break in brick. Tough to patch brick. Easy to patch wood/plaster. Same tent design, definitely not as successful. Ok, quick tale: on chair about to cut brick, talking to neighbor, and I hear dog on the other side of curtain. "Get out of here!" Don't want him getting covered with dust. So he leaves. I cut hole, and survive. Spot left room by way of door that I had closed... almost. Fine pink dust still covers some corners of our den and kitchen. Lesson learned.

 Cutting with a saw was easy. Figuring out how to get bricks away from wall was daunting. Guess it's true: brick by brick. A few hours later, I'd missed the extended family birthday dinner but made great progress.

 This was the hardest part (didn't take hours maybe 30 min.). Method was mastered and the rest went well.

 End of a long day. About 9 pm and my hands were shredded from dealing with broken brick and mortar.

 A new day means the easier stuff. There is light!

 Now I've got 2 doorways!

 Door actually fit - and closes! And then we had to get a Christmas tree. Couldn't wait a week could we? Noooo. Sliding Tree System developed and utilized daily.

 Old door patched, giving welcome relief.

 Caulk and mud make miracles. Two layers (1/2" & 1/4") drywall ALMOST replicate old plaster system.

 And another wrinkle - new paint. Guess sunshine was too much. We're now covered in WHEATBREAD. Everyone else seems to love it.

Phase II means making things look right from the outside - and cleaning up the fine pink dust that covers everything in the office.

Steppe Lord/Lord Steppe Going Away

Though it's a little over a month old, this was a shot from our Farewell Dinner for Katharine, Daniel, & toddler Henry. They took off for Central America on a multi-month adventure. Read of their adventures at http://lordsteppe.blogspot.com/